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Abstract:

A scalable, high-throughput nanoimprint lithography priming tool includes
a dual-reactant chemical vapor deposition reactor chamber, a mandrel
configured to hold a plurality of hard disks at an inner diameter of the
hard disks, and a transport mechanism to move the plurality of hard disks
into and out of the chamber. The tool may also include a transfer tool to
transfer the plurality of hard disks to additional chambers for
processing.

Claims:

1. A nanoimprint lithography priming tool comprising:a dual-reactant
chemical vapor deposition reactor chamber;a mandrel configured to hold a
plurality of hard disks at an inner diameter of the hard disks; anda
transport mechanism to move the plurality of hard disks into the chamber.

2. The tool of claim 1, wherein the mandrel is movable outside of the
chamber for loading the hard disks and inside the chamber for processing.

3. The tool of claim 1, wherein the chamber is configured to operate at a
first pressure regime and a second pressure regime.

4. The tool of claim 3, wherein the first pressure regime is a low vacuum
steady flow reaction and wherein the second pressure regime is a high
vacuum closed system reaction.

5. The tool of claim 1, further comprising a pump coupled to the chamber
and a molecular sieve filter for removal of reactants/products before
reaching a pumping manifold coupled to the pump.

6. The tool of claim 1, wherein the mandrel is configured to transfer the
plurality of disks from a cassette.

7. The tool of claim 1, wherein the mandrel is configured to transfer the
plurality of disks from a plurality of cassettes.

8. The tool of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of chambers
linearly aligned and configured to parallel process a plurality of hard
disks on a plurality of mandrels.

9. The tool of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of mandrels
configured to simultaneously transport a plurality of hard disks into the
chamber for simultaneous processing of the plurality of hard disks in the
chamber.

10. The tool of claim 6, wherein the transport mechanism comprises:a
linear drive to transfer the mandrel linearly;a cassette conveyor to
transfer the cassette linearly; anda lift to lift the cassette from the
cassette conveyor to a loading level that allows the mandrel to engage
the plurality of disks.

11. A hard disk fabrication system comprising:an enclosure;a chamber in
the enclosure;a transport system to transfer a cassette containing a
plurality of hard disks into and within the enclosure; anda mandrel
configured to transfer the plurality of hard disks from the cassette and
into the chamber.

12. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 11, further comprising:a
transport system to transfer multiple cassettes containing a plurality of
hard disks into and within the enclosure; anda mandrel configured to
transfer the plurality of hard disks from multiple cassettes and into the
chamber.

13. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 11, further comprising a
second chamber in the enclosure, and wherein the transport system is
further configured to transfer the cassette from the chamber to the
second chamber.

14. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 11, wherein the transport
mechanism comprises:a linear drive to transfer the mandrel linearly;a
cassette conveyor to transfer the cassette linearly; anda lift to lift
the cassette from the cassette conveyor to a loading level that allows
the mandrel to engage the plurality of disks.

15. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 14, further
comprising:wherein the cassette conveyor transfers a plurality of
cassettes linearly; andwherein the lift lifts multiple cassettes from the
cassette conveyor to the loading level that allows the mandrel to engage
the plurality of disks.

16. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 11, wherein the chamber
comprises a vacuum pump configured to establish a first pressure regime
and a second pressure regime in the chamber.

17. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 11, further comprising a
plurality of mandrels, at least two of the plurality of mandrels
configured to be processed in the chamber at the same time.

18. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 11, further comprising a
plurality of chambers, the mandrel transferable among each of the
plurality of chambers.

19. The hard disk fabrication system of claim 18, wherein at least one of
the plurality of chambers comprises a first reactant vapor deposition
chamber and at least one of the plurality of chambers comprises a second
reactant vapor deposition chamber.

20. A method comprising:transporting a plurality of hard disks in a
cassette;transferring the plurality of hard disks from the cassette to a
mandrel; andtransferring the mandrel with the plurality of hard disks
into a process chamber.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:transporting a plurality of
hard disks in multiple cassettes;transferring the plurality of hard disks
from multiple cassettes to the mandrel; andtransferring the mandrel with
the plurality of hard disks into a process chamber.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the mandrel is configured to hold the
plurality of hard disks at the inner diameter of the hard disks.

23. The method of claim 20 further comprising:depositing a first reactant
on the plurality of hard disks; anddepositing a second reactant on the
plurality of hard disks.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:operating the process
chamber at a first pressure regime to clean the plurality of hard disks
before deposition of the first and second reactants; andoperating the
process chamber at a second pressure regime during the deposition of the
first and second reactants.

Description:

PRIORITY

[0001]The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional
Application No. 61/107,265, filed Oct. 21, 2008, and entitled "METHOD AND
APPARATUS FOR PRECISION SURFACE MODIFICATION IN NANO-IMPRINT
LITHOGRAPHY," the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

[0002]1. Field

[0003]This invention relates to the art of substrates, e.g., disk,
micro-fabrication and, more particularly, to patterning of substrates,
e.g., the magnetic layers of a hard disk for hard disk drives.

[0004]2. Related Art

[0005]Micro-fabrication of substrates is a well known art employed in, for
example, fabrication of semiconductors, flat panel displays, light
emitting diodes (LED's), hard disks for hard disk drives (HDD), etc. As
is well known, fabrication of semiconductors, flat panel displays and
LED's involves various steps for patterning the substrate. On the other
hand, traditional fabrication of hard disks, generally referred to as
longitudinal recording technology, does not involve patterning.
Similarly, fabrication of disks for perpendicular recording technology
does not involve patterning. Rather uniform layers are deposited and
memory cells are generally defined by the alternating change of magnetic
flux induced by the recording head, with each recording bit encompassing
multiple grains within the unpatterned magnetic layers.

[0006]It has been demonstrated that non-patterned disks would fail to
satisfy the needs of the market (e.g., bit density and costs) to remain
competitive with other forms of storage. Consequently, it has been
proposed that next generation disks should be patterned. It is envisioned
that the patterning process may utilize photolithography, although
currently there is no certainty which lithography technology may be
commercialized, and no commercial system is yet available for commercial
manufacturing of patterned media. Among contenders for photolithography
are interference photolithography, near field lithography and
nano-imprint lithography (NIL). Regardless of the lithography technology
utilized, once the photoresist is exposed and developed, the disk needs
to be etched and fabricated according to the desired pattern. However, to
date much of the development efforts has been focused on the patterning
step and no technology has been proposed for fabricating a patterned disk
in a commercially viable environment.

[0007]To be sure, etch, sputtering, and other fabrication technologies are
well known and well developed for semiconductor, flat panel display,
LED's, etc. However, no system has been proposed for integrating these
technology to enable fabrication of disks for HDD. Moreover, unlike HDD
disks, in all of these other applications only one side of the substrate
needs to be etched--allowing a chuck to hold the substrate from the
backside during fabrication. On the other hand, HDD disks need to be
fabricated on both sides, preventing the use of a chuck. Indeed, in HDD
disk fabrication no part of the fabrication system may contact any
surface of the disk. Also, while HDD manufacturers expect the system to
have a throughput on the order of 1000 disks per hour, fabricators of
semiconductors employ systems having throughputs of only tens of
substrates per hour.

[0008]In view of the above, a method and system are required to enable
fabrication of hard disks to provide patterned media for HDD.

SUMMARY

[0009]The following summary of the invention is included in order to
provide a basic understanding of some aspects and features of the
invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention and
as such it is not intended to particularly identify key or critical
elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its
sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified
form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented
below.

[0010]According to an aspect of the invention, a nanoimprint lithography
priming tool is provided that includes a dual-reactant chemical vapor
deposition reactor chamber; a mandrel configured to hold a plurality of
hard disks at an inner diameter of the hard disks; and a transport
mechanism to move the plurality of hard disks into the chamber.

[0011]The mandrel may be movable outside of the chamber for loading the
hard disks and inside the chamber for processing.

[0012]The chamber may be configured to operate at a first pressure regime
and a second pressure regime. The system may be further be configured to
operate at more than two pressure regimes sequentially.

[0013]The first pressure regime may be a low vacuum steady flow reaction
and wherein the second pressure regime is a high vacuum closed system
reaction.

[0014]The tool may further include a pump coupled to the chamber and a
molecular sieve filter for removal of reactants/products before reaching
a pumping manifold coupled to the pump.

[0015]The mandrel may be configured to transfer the plurality of disks
from a cassette. The tool may further include a mandrel configured to
transfer the plurality of disks from more than one cassette.

[0016]The tool may further include a plurality of chambers linearly
aligned and configured to parallel process a plurality of hard disks on a
plurality of mandrels.

[0017]The tool may further include a plurality of mandrels configured to
simultaneously transport a plurality of hard disks into the chamber for
simultaneous processing of the plurality of hard disks in the chamber.

[0018]The transport mechanism may include a linear drive to transfer the
mandrel linearly; a cassette conveyor to transfer the cassette or
cassettes linearly; and a lift to lift the cassette or cassettes from the
cassette conveyor to a loading level that allows the mandrel to engage
the plurality of disks.

[0019]According to another aspect of the invention, a hard disk
fabrication system is described that includes an enclosure; a chamber in
the enclosure; a transport system to transfer a cassette containing a
plurality of hard disks into and within the enclosure; and a mandrel
configured to transfer the plurality of hard disks from the cassette or
cassettes and into the chamber.

[0020]The hard disk fabrication system may also include a second chamber
in the enclosure, and the transport system may be further configured to
transfer the cassette from the chamber to the second chamber.

[0021]The transport mechanism may include a linear drive to transfer the
mandrel linearly; a cassette conveyor to transfer the cassette or
plurality of cassettes linearly; and a lift to lift the cassette or
plurality of cassettes from the cassette conveyor to a loading level that
allows the mandrel to engage the plurality of disks.

[0022]The chamber may include a vacuum pump configured to establish a
first pressure regime and a second pressure regime in the chamber. The
chamber may further be configured to establish multiple pressure regimes
in the chamber.

[0023]The hard disk fabrication system may also include a plurality of
mandrels, at least two of the plurality of mandrels configured to be
processed in the chamber at the same time.

[0024]The hard disk fabrication system may also include a plurality of
chambers, the mandrel transferable among each of the plurality of
chambers.

[0025]At least one of the plurality of chambers may include a first
reactant vapor deposition chamber and at least one of the plurality of
chambers may include a second reactant vapor deposition chamber.

[0026]According to a further aspect of the invention, a method is provided
that includes transporting a plurality of hard disks in a cassette or
plurality of cassettes; transferring the plurality of hard disks from the
cassette or plurality of cassettes to a mandrel; and transferring the
mandrel with the plurality of hard disks into a process chamber.

[0027]The mandrel may be configured to hold the plurality of hard disks at
the inner diameter of the hard disks.

[0028]The method may also include depositing a first reactant on the
plurality of hard disks; and depositing a second reactant on the
plurality of hard disks.

[0029]The method may also include operating the process chamber at a first
pressure regime to clean the plurality of hard disks before deposition of
the first and second reactants; and operating the process chamber at a
second pressure regime during the deposition of the first and second
reactants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030]The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute
a part of this specification, exemplify the embodiments of the present
invention and, together with the description, serve to explain and
illustrate principles of the invention. The drawings are intended to
illustrate major features of the exemplary embodiments in a diagrammatic
manner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of actual
embodiments nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and are not
drawn to scale.

[0031]FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a complete process for
fabricating HDD patterned media disks according to one embodiment of the
invention;

[0032]FIGS. 2A-2F illustrate a module of the nanolithography priming
module according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0033]FIGS. 3A-B illustrate multiple modules with an enclosure according
to one embodiment of the invention;

[0034]FIGS. 4A-4D are perspective views illustrating transport of disks
from a cassette to a process chamber according to one embodiment of the
invention;

[0035]FIG. 5 illustrates a system having multiple chambers according to
one embodiment of the invention;

[0036]FIGS. 6A-6D illustrate disk transfer to a chamber according to one
embodiment of the invention;

[0037]FIGS. 7A-7C are perspective views of mandrel motion in the
nanolithography priming system according to one embodiment of the
invention;

[0038]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a nanolithography priming system
illustrate separate process chambers for processing of the disks
according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0039]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a nanolithography priming system
illustrating a reservoir system for the nanolithography system according
to one embodiment of the invention;

[0040]FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate disk transfer to a chamber according to one
embodiment of the invention; and

[0041]FIG. 11 illustrates a system for fabricating HDD patterned media
disks according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0042]FIGS. 12A-12C illustrate disk transfer to a chamber according to one
embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043]According to embodiments of the invention, system and methods are
provided for fabricating patterned media disks. FIG. 1 illustrates a flow
chart of a complete process for fabricating HDD patterned media disks,
generally divided into four modules (indicated by light broken-line
boxes). In FIG. 1, solid-line boxes indicate utilization of conventional
continuous media fabrication equipment, the broken-line box indicates
utilization of lithography equipment, such as, e.g., nanoimprint
lithography (i.e., nanolithography), and the double-line box indicates
utilization of patterned media fabrication equipment. In module 10,
fabrication starts by cleaning the disks in a cleaning apparatus 12. The
disks are then moved to a conventional processing system 14, such as the
200 Lean® for fabricating non-patterned magnetic layers. Thereafter,
the disks are moved to a lithography module 16 to imprint the patterning.
The lithography module 16 performs nanolithography. Generally, in the
lithography module the disk is coated with a photoresist, the photoresist
is "exposed" to the required pattern (either by radiation or physical
contact with a master, i.e., imprinted), then the exposed resist is
developed or cured under UV irradiation. Once the lithography processing
is completed, the disk is transferred to the patterning system 18.

[0044]In the patterning system 18 various processing steps are performed,
which may include de-scum, resist trim, hard mask deposition and etch,
resist strip, metal etching, planarization (which may include carbon or
metal or oxide refill and etch-back). These processes are performed in a
plurality of chambers, each having an independent vacuum environment;
however, once the disk enters system 18 it never leaves the vacuum
environment until processing is completed. Once processing in the
patterning system 18 is completed, the disks are moved to modules 20 and
22, which are not relevant to the subject disclosure.

[0045]A critical step during the nanoimprinting process is deposition of a
"sticky" layer or primer layer. The key process requirements include
vaporization of a first precursor and reaction of the first precursor
with a second precursor, e.g., water vapor, to form a monolayer of
material through a "self-limiting" reaction. Applicants have developed a
nanoimprint tool to facilitate such a reaction of the precursors on a
disk, in high vacuum and at high throughput.

[0046]Some advantageous features of the nanoimprint priming tool described
herein include, for example, batch disk transport, batch disk transfer,
and batch vapor deposition. Additional advantageous features of the
nanoimprint priming tool include, for example, low vacuum steady flow
reaction and a high vacuum closed system reaction in the chamber,
precision liquid injection and evaporation-delivery to the closed
chamber, heated transport line and chamber for prevention of
condensation, shielded chamber for removal of reaction products from the
chamber, and molecular sieve filter for removal of reactants/products
before reaching a pumping manifold. These features and others will now be
described in further detail with reference to FIGS. 2A-8.

[0047]FIGS. 2A-2F illustrate the interior of the nanoimprint priming tool
200 and FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate the exterior of the nanoimprint priming
tool 200. FIGS. 3A-3B also illustrate that multiple nanoimprint priming
tools 200 may be provided next to one another in the system to parallel
process multiple batches of disks.

[0050]The cassette conveyor 208 and disk lift 210 are configured to
transport one or more cassettes 256. Each cassette 256 is configured to
hold a plurality of disks 260 and, in particular embodiment, is
configured to hold about twenty-five disks 260. It will be appreciated
that the cassette 256 may hold any number of disks 260 including less
than or more than twenty-five disks 260. The transport of the disks 260
via the cassettes 256 is automated to support high process throughput. As
shown in FIG. 3A, the cassettes 256 are loaded into the nanoimprint
priming tool at the cassette load feature of the cassette conveyor 208
through an opening 304 in the enclosure 300. The cassette conveyor 208 is
configured to linearly move the cassette 256. In addition, the cassette
conveyor 208 and/or disk lift 210 may be equipped with laser sensor
cassette positioning to accurately transport the cassette 256 from the
opening 304 to the chamber 216.

[0051]Once the cassette 256 is transported from the opening 304 to a lift
position near the chamber 216 on the cassette conveyor 208, the cassettes
256 can then be lifted to the process chamber 216 using the cassette lift
210. The process chamber 216 includes a door 218 that is coupled to a
mandrel 264. The door 218 and mandrel 264 are also coupled to the
door/mandrel linear drive 212. The mandrel 264 is configured to transport
the disks 260 from the cassette 256 and into the chamber 216. The mandrel
264 holds the disks 260 at the inner diameter of the disks 260. Because
the mandrel 264 holds the disks 260 at their inner diameter, particle
generation is minimized at contact areas so that particles are only
generated at non-critical areas (e.g., the chamfer of the disk at the
inner diameter). In one particular embodiment, the mandrel 264 is
configured to hold twenty-five disks. It will be appreciated that the
mandrel 264 may hold any number of disks, including fewer than
twenty-five disks and more than twenty-five disks. The linear drive 212
is coupled to the mandrel 264 to drive extension of the mandrel 264 and
secure the door 218 of the process chamber 216. In one embodiment, the
linear drive 212 includes a motor and lead screw with indexer which are
configured to drive movement of the mandrel 264. The process chamber 216
may include more than one mandrel 264 to parallel process disks 260
(e.g., fifty disks can be processed at a given time, twenty-five on each
mandrel in the chamber 216). The process chamber may further include one
mandrel holding more than twenty five disks.

[0052]The transfer of the disks 260 from the entrance 304 of the tool 200
to the process chamber 216 will now be described in further detail with
reference FIGS. 4A-4D. In particular, FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate transfer of
the cassette and lifting of the cassette to the chamber 216 using the
cassette conveyor 208 and disk lift 210. The cassette conveyor lift may
lift more than one cassette. FIG. 4A illustrates the linear transfer of
the cassette 256 on the cassette conveyor 208 and lifting of a cassette
256 to the level of the process chamber 206. The mandrel 264 is then
extended via the mandrel linear drive 212 as shown in FIG. 4B to transfer
the disks 260 from the cassette 256 onto the mandrel 264. As shown in
FIG. 4C, after the disks 260 have been transferred to the mandrel 264,
the cassette 256 is dropped back down to the cassette conveyor 208. The
linear drive 212 then moves the mandrel 264 into the chamber to a
position whereby the door 218 to the chamber 216 is closed as shown in
FIG. 4D.

[0053]The system may be scaleable for an even higher throughput
manufacturing scale system. For example, multiple sub-systems (and/or
nano-lithography priming tools) may be linked linearly to parallel
process multiple cassettes of disks for higher throughput. FIG. 5
illustrates multiple modules 500 connected to one another for
nanolithography processing including first and second chemical vapor
deposition (e.g., water vapor) chambers 504, 508, third and fourth
chemical vapor deposition (e.g., VALMAT vapor) chambers 512, 516, and
first and second preparation (e.g., plasma etch or O2-UV) chambers
520, 524. In FIG. 5, the disks 260 are transported from the preparation
chambers 520, 524, to the third and fourth deposition chambers 516, 518,
and then to the first and second deposition chambers 504, 508. The system
illustrated in FIG. 5 is configured to process 50 disks per process (25
disks/chamber and 2 chambers/process). It will be appreciated that
additional modules 500 may be provided to process additional disks as
needed. Another example is disks from multiple cassettes can be
transferred by one mandrel into the process chamber (see, e.g., FIGS.
12A-12C).

[0054]In another, multiple mandrels 264 may be mounted on the disk
transfer mechanisms and positionable in a larger chamber for simultaneous
processing of multiple cassettes of disks (see FIGS. 6A-7C). As shown in
FIGS. 6A-D, the chamber 216 is configured to hold two mandrels 264 and
the door 218 is moved downward when the disks 260 are loaded on the
mandrels 264. As shown in FIG. 6A, the cassettes 256 are transferred to
the chamber 216 on the cassette transfer 208. The cassettes 256 are then
lifted using the disk lift 208 as shown in FIG. 6B, and the disks are
transferred to the mandrel 264 (FIG. 6C). After the disks 260 are
transferred to the mandrel 264, the cassette 256 is dropped back to the
linear transfer 208 as shown in FIG. 6D. After all of the disks 260 have
been loaded onto the mandrel 264 (see FIG. 7A), the mandrel(s) 264 are
retracted into the chamber 216 using the linear drive 212 (see FIG. 7B)
and the gate is closed (see FIG. 7C).

[0055]With reference back to FIGS. 2A-2F, the process chamber 216 provides
a reaction environment that forms a surface modifying layer of
bi-functional single molecules, in close-packed, oriented fashion on a
first surface of the disks, so as to effect a change in the disk surface
characteristics from that of a metal oxide-hydroxide in nature, to one
that is organic in nature, and further allows the second surface to be
cross-linkable to a polymeric imprinting resist upon UV irradiation. In
one particular embodiment, the process chamber 216 may be, for example, a
polycarbonate chamber having an internal volume of about, for example, 11
Litres.

[0056]Various features provide proper mechanisms and control thereof to
allow sequential preparation of the disk surface by first performing a
steady flow surface cleaning with ozone gas. The reactants in liquid form
may be precision-metered for flow into a vaporizer (or a liquid-vapor
phase separator). The vapor that exits the vaporizer may flow into the
evacuated chamber sequentially or simultaneously. The vapor paths of the
reactants may be arranged so that the reactants do not intermix until
they enter the reaction chamber. The surface reaction that is induced
when the reactants are in the chamber allows the primary functional group
of the first reactant (e.g., ValMat) to bond to the surface of the disk
via a hydrolysis-polycondensation reaction with the second reactant
(e.g., water vapor), both in vapor form. The vaporizer may be used to
prevent liquid mist or droplets from entering the processor 216. The
process chamber 216 and the vapor feed line 224 may also be heated to
maintain vapor temperature and prevent condensation of the vapor. The
chamber 216 may include an auxiliary gas line (N2) to allow for active
pressure control. The nanoimprint tool 200 may be arranged so that ozone
is not allowed to intermix with the reactants outside of the reaction
chamber.

[0057]The process chamber 216 may be configured to operate as a dual-mode
vacuum system that allows for in-situ surface cleaning prior to
deposition of the primer layer. In particular, the vacuum pump 220 may be
coupled to the process chamber 216 to allow the process chamber 216 to
operate in the two modes: (1) a continuous flow, sub-atmosphere pressure
regime for ozone cleaning of primary surface, and (2) a low pressure,
closed system dual-reactant chemical vapor deposition. In one embodiment,
the first pressure regime may be in a near-atmospheric evacuated regime
(e.g., about 100-760 Torr), and the second pressure regime may be in a
higher vacuum state (e.g., about 10-1000 mTorr). The dual-mode operation
is advantageous for particle reduction and for preserving pristine
surfaces after an ozone cleaning step, without the impact of breaking
vacuum, environmental contamination and moisture condensation on surfaces
for ex situ cleaning. In particular, in the first pressure regime (e.g.,
about 100-760 Torr), the disks are processes under steady flow
conditions, with an ozone generator flowing through the batch of disks to
oxidatively remove surface contaminants and partially oxidize the metal
surfaces in preparation for the next process step. The reactor is the
evacuated to second pressure regime (e.g., about 10-200 mTorr) and
subsequently sealed off. The reactants are either sequentially or
simultaneously flowed into the chamber to reach a pre-determined pressure
below 1000 mTorr. The disks are held under this condition until after the
reactants react on the surface of the disks, completing the disk
treatment in the chamber 216.

[0058]In one particular embodiment, 150 uL of ValMat is provided in a
first supply reservoir and 100 uL of DI water is supplied in a second
supply reservoir, which are placed in a water bath maintained at
95-120° C. The chamber 216 is then evacuated to about 23 Torr, the
pump is isolated, the ValMat supply valve is opened for about 1 minute,
and the system is allowed to stabilize for about 1 to 9 minutes. After
stabilization, the DI water supply reservoir is opened for about 0.1 to 1
minute and the system is allowed to stabilize for about 0.1 to 9 minutes.
Then, the system is vented to atmosphere. Optionally, an O2 plasma/O2-UV
surface treatment/activation may be performed. The substrate is then
evacuated/ozone treated to render the surface devoid of absorbents. The
ValMat material is introduced in the vapor phase for "physi-sorption" on
substrate surfaces. Water vapor is then introduced into the chamber. The
surface reaction (hydrolysis-polycondensation) is allowed to proceed for
about <10 minutes, causing hydrolysis of the ValMat material and
poly-condensation bonding to the metal-oxide rich substrate surface. At
this point, the primer treatment of the surface is complete and the
substrate is ready for the remaining NIL processing. It will be
appreciated that the substrate may undergo additional processing. For
example, the substrate may undergo surface conditioning prior to
physi-sorption of ValMat and H2O (e.g., 20 min of ambient O2 with
˜500 watt UV light exposure, plasma etch with O2, O2 with UV but
with controlled O2 partial pressure and higher UV power and UV
uniformity, etc.).

[0059]In one embodiment, the chamber 216 may be arranged sequentially in
accordance with the reaction sequence (e.g., a first chemical vapor
deposition chamber 816a and a second chemical vapor deposition 816b) as
shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the first chemical vapor deposition chamber
816a is configured for deposition of a first reactant (e.g., ValMat
vapor) and the second chemical vapor deposition chamber 816b is
configured for deposition of a second reactant (e.g., water vapor).

[0060]FIG. 9 illustrates a first reactant (e.g., water) holding reservoir
904 and a second reactant (e.g., ValMat) holding reservoir 908 that may
be used with the configuration illustrated in FIG. 9. The second reactant
holding reservoir 908 may connected to the deposition chamber 916a
through a heated vapor transport line 920. The chambers 916a, 916b may
include a timed release valve. According to one embodiment, the tandem
reactor 916 allows for two sets of disks 260 to be parallel processed in
the chamber 916. The reservoirs 904, 908 may be maintained at a constant
temperature to allow equilibrium vapor pressure in storage at the
beginning of each reaction cycle. In one embodiment, the volume of
reservoirs 904, 908 is less than the volume of the reactor. The
temperature of the reservoirs 904, 908 may be less than about 100°
C. The chamber 216 may include a vapor release valve to control timing
and dosage of the vapor going into chamber 216. In one particular
embodiment, the valve has a timing accuracy of about 0.1 sec and a timing
length of about 30 min.

[0061]FIG. 10A-10C illustrate an alternative embodiment for transporting
disks in-line for processing. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10A-C, the
disks 260 are lifted through a bottom surface 1004 of the chamber 216,
which is a movable gate. The mandrel 264 is lifted up and down from the
cassette transfer 208 to transfer the disks 260 from the cassette 256
into the chamber 216. In particular, the cassette 256 is transferred to
the chamber 216 (FIG. 10A), the mandrel 264 is lifted up into the chamber
216 (FIG. 10B) and the isolation gate 1004 closes to seal the chamber 216
(FIG. 10C), so that processing of the disks 260 can begin.

[0062]FIG. 11 illustrates a linearly aligned system 1100 that allows for
batch processing of disks. The system 1100 includes a conveyor load 1104,
a load lock 1108, a turn table 1112, two oxygen/ozone soft etch stations
1116, 1120, two first reactant (e.g., ValMat) process stations 1124,
1128, two second reactant (e.g., water) process stations 1132, 1136, a
second turn table 1140, an unload lock 1144 and a conveyor load 1148.

[0063]FIGS. 12A-12C illustrate an embodiment in which the nanoimprint
priming tool 200 allows for multiple cassettes 256 to be transferred by
one mandrel 264 into the process chamber 216. As shown in FIG. 12A, the
cassettes 256 are lifted by the disk lift 210 to a loading level that
allows the disks 260 in the cassettes 256 to be transferred into the
process chamber 216. In FIG. 12A, two cassettes 256a, 256b are shown
being lifted to the loading level. It will be appreciated that any number
of cassettes may be lifted to allow for processing of multiple disks. As
shown in FIG. 12B, the cassettes 256 are then lowered to the level of the
cassette conveyor 208, the disks 260 remaining on the mandrel 264 for
transfer into the process chamber 216. FIG. 12C illustrates the disks 260
in the chamber 216 on the mandrel 264.

[0064]It should be understood that processes and techniques described
herein are not inherently related to any particular apparatus and may be
implemented by any suitable combination of components. Further, various
types of general purpose devices may be used in accordance with the
teachings described herein. The present invention has been described in
relation to particular examples, which are intended in all respects to be
illustrative rather than restrictive. Those skilled in the art will
appreciate that many different combinations will be suitable for
practicing the present invention.

[0065]Moreover, other implementations of the invention will be apparent to
those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and
practice of the invention disclosed herein. Various aspects and/or
components of the described embodiments may be used singly or in any
combination. It is intended that the specification and examples be
considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the
invention being indicated by the following claims.